Credibility Assessments as 'Normative Leakage': Asylum Applications, Gender and Class

Based on the assumption that credibility assessments function as 'normative leakage' within the asylum process, we analyse how narratives of gender and class are articulated, rendered meaningful, or silenced in credibility assessments. Two cases concerning male applicants are selected in order to illustrate these processes. In relation to the existing concepts of internal/external credibility, we wish to introduce the concept of social credibility, which focuses on how the assessors read different socio-cultural narratives. While previous research has shown that the postcolonial will to protect women favours women as victims of patriarchal cultures, we wish to point out the continuity of this line of argumentation in relation to male and female applicants by adopting a theoretical generalization: male applicants instead become situated at the other end of the spectrum of postcolonial notions of modernity as non-victims, victims of other circumstances or perpetrators. We argue that these processes are accentuated in relation to credibility assessments. In order to prevent processes of social exclusion and to enhance inclusive practice, authorities need to acknowledge the 'normative leakage' associated with the assessment process

Fibrinolytic and coagulative activities of Yersinia pestis

Peer reviewe

Carbon guide : An outlook on carbon in soil and on carbon cultivation

202

(Im)possible Positions. Families from Iran & Postcolonial Reflections.

This thesis is based on narratives by families originating from Iran, now residing in Sweden, Göteborg. The focus is the accounts of family, gender, relations, belongings (and class). Point of departure is a representation of “immigrant families” as problematic in the media and public debate. The overall aim is to deconstruct this image through the narratives of the families, and to suggest and present other and more complex accounts of families from Iran in Sweden. To reach the objectives of the study postcolonial theory, feminist post structuralism, deconstruction and discourse analysis are used as theoretical and methodological tools. Analytical focus are on doing family, gender, belongings and place. The empirical material consists of 31 interviews with 19 parents and young adults in seven families. The parents all have grown up in Iran before migrating to Sweden. The narratives are looked upon as accounts of discursive experience. The use of discourse in the narratives, in order to do oneself, family, gender, belongings and place, is presented as positions of the subjects. To inhabit a position is to “do identity”. Each family member uses a number of positions depending on theme, and how the narrative is situated. This is related to the theoretical notion of multiple subjects. The findings show that possibilities of differentiated positions and complex expressions, accounted for as an immigrant family, are severely restrained. However the narratives also show a large amount of creative, opposing, and radical expressions. The latter are considered as counter histories and becomes subversive manifestations. The positions occupied by the family members arrived at in accordance with a hegemonic discursive formation containing, on the one hand, “Swedishness”, modernity and democracy, and, on the other, “Iranianess”, tradition and oppression. This suggests that the family members position themselves and their families in relation to a notion of the Swedish, heterosexual, nuclear family as considered normal – and/or a notion of the Iranian, troubled family as subordinated. In a first position the family members do themselves and their families as “Swedish”, modern and democratic, while “Iranianess” is considered undesirable. This suggests being forced to choose either “Swedishness” or “Iranianess”. A second position implies that the family members position themselves and their families as both “Swedish”, democratic and modern and Iranian. The third position suggests rejecting the hegemonic discourse and placing oneself and ones family, as well as generalized notions of family, as neither “Swedish” nor “Iranian” and thus joining the struggle of defining discursive reality. The findings distorts the conception of “immigrant families” as victims of “cultural conflicts”. And thus, refutes the representation of families from Iran as “different” in comparison to “Swedish families” on the basis of national and “cultural” origins. In this discussion the perception of Iran is crucial. That is, if the concept of modernity is restricted to Western societies/practices, the notion of families from Iran in Sweden (or in Iran) will continue to be excluding and exclusive. This in turn implies being able to comprehend Iranian society, and families from Iran, as complex, and as a ground of differentiated expressions

Collective creativity

En sökning efter framtida arbetsmetoder. En skogstomt i Åkersberga. Sju personligheter. Tre träffar. Kreativa övningar. Inspirerande diskussioner. Ett hem. Ett kollektivhus.   Examensarbetet innebar för mig en återblick till varför jag en gång valde att bli arkitekt och funderingar kring vilken roll jag vill spela inom yrket fram över. Jag vill som arkitekt vara socialt engagerad och se mig själv som en aktiv del av samhällsutvecklingen. Jag vill låta arkitekturen inspireras av personligheter. Jag vill även finna ett sätt att arbeta på som inspirerar mig till att känna kreativ lust.   Jag ser en värld med resurser som sinar och klasskillnader som ökar. Jag anser att vi behöver hjälpas åt mer och minska konsumtionen.  Jag tror att ett sätt är att påverka detta som arkitekt är att stötta utvecklingen och byggandet av kollektiva boenden.   Genom facebooksidan “Reclaim the home”, som jag öppnade inför examensarbetet, fick jag tag på 7 st människor som var intresserade av att delta i utvecklandet av det kollektiva boendet. Den gruppen har jag träffat och fört en dialog med om deras boendevision. Detta arbete har sammanfattats och presenterats som en analyserad metodprocess och ett arkitektoniskt förslag som är genomritat till skedet för ansökan om bygglov.  A search for future practices. A forest plot in Åkersberga. Seven personalities.  Three meetings. Creative exercises. Inspiring discussions. A home.  A collective house.   This work meant for me a flashback as to why I once chose to become an architect and reflections on the role I want to play. I want to be a socially engaged architect. I want to let the architecture be inspired by personalities. I want to find a way to work that inspires me to feel creative desire.   I see a world where resources go dry and class differences that increase. I believe we need to to help one another more and reduce consumption. I believe that one way to influence this as an architect is to support the development and construction of collective housing.   Through the Facebook page "Reclaim the home" I got hold of 7 people who were interested in participating in the development of the collective housing. That group I have held discussions with about their housingvision. This work has been summarized and presented as an analyzed method process and an architectural proposal that is drawn to the stage of application for a building permit

Analys av en lärares sätt att kommunicera och föra en dialog på : Beroende på vilken klass som undervisades

The main problem that is seen in schools is that teachers sometimes don not reflect on what kind of pupils they have in the class and therefore do not adapt their way of communicate, which can lead to confusion and misunderstandings from the pupils side. In this essay I have study a teacher’s way to communicate with her pupils depending of what kind of class she has. The main question is How the dialogue between teacher and pupils looks like, and after that there are two more questions that are answered. The method in this essay is of a qualitative form where the observation is the main method to gather the empiric parts. The analysis is also of a qualitative form. The theoretical frame is taken from different scholars but the main focus lies in the subject of communication and dialogue and how these subjects are depending on the relationships  between people. But there are also a theory from Bahktin were he points out how to succeed with a dialogue in a classroom. The conclusion in this essay is that communication and dialogue in the classrooms are important regardless what kind of pupils you as a teacher have. It is also in great significant that the teacher adapt her way to communicate otherwise a lot of information can be lost which can lead to lost motivation and inspiration for the pupils

(O)möjliga positioner : familjer från Iran & postkoloniala reflektioner

Hanna WikströmParallel als Buch-Ausg. erschienenZsfassung in engl. Sprach

Ambulanssjuksköterskans upplevelser av traumatiska händelser i tjänst

The ambulance nurse encounters repeatedly in her daily work situations of high stress, in which she must face and deal with events outside the range of normal human experience. Stress reactions can be seen as a normal reaction for those who have experienced a traumatic experience. Many nurses have learnt how to deal with this in their everyday work, but by some, this stress will be prolonged with an increased risk of developing depression, drug and alcohol abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is important for ambulance nurses to have strategies to cope with the experiences after traumatic events, thus preventing prolonged stress problems. The aim of the study was to illuminate the ambulance nurses' experiences and coping of traumatic events in service. The study had a qualitative approach, where ten semi-structured interviews with ambulance nurses was carried out on two ambulance stations in central and northern Sweden. The results revealed four categories that emerged from the interviews; unmanageable when lack of experience, stress and helplessness at the loss of control, affected easier when associating with yourself and secondary experiences of traumatic events. The result also shows that a traumatic event is a subjective, individual experience that is changeable. Conversations with colleagues and expressing feelings during coffee breaks were seen as a first step in the coping process of the event and were significant for how the further handling would turn out. What emerged clearly in the study was that the ambulance nurse herself should define what a traumatic event is and be given the means and opportunity to handle her experience.Validerat; 20130619 (global_studentproject_submitter

Studenters miljömedvetenhet : undersökning av LTU:s studenters agerande i miljöfrågor samt på vilket sätt studenter kan bidra i universitetets miljöledningsarbete

Validerat; 20101217 (root